Greene reaches state semifinals

CORTLAND – On paper, Greene was regarded as one of the best Class C teams in New York State. It even rose to the number one ranking in the state. Now, the Trojans can prove that it deserved such lofty recognition.

Getting 17 points from Barb Borst and 16 from senior Megan McDermott, the Trojans advanced to the state semifinals for the second time in school history beating Bishop Grimes Saturday at SUNY Cortland, 41-31.

Greene (23-1) plays the present number one ranked team in the state, Nazareth, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Hudson Valley Community College. “We all understood when we were told we were number one, it was because of what we accomplished last year,” McDermott said, who added 13 rebounds, three steals, and three assists. “To be honest, I didn’t think we should have been number one because we had not done anything to put us there. Now we know we are where we should be, and we’ve earned it.”

Rough and tumble physical play didn’t make it easy for either team to score points. Bishop Grimes coach John Cifonelli said his team is used to playing “ugly” games – and this one certainly wasn’t pretty to watch unless you were a Greene fan. Cifonelli wasn’t, however, used to his team’s proliferation of turnovers The Lady Cobras lost their grip on the roundball to the tune of 26 miscues, and had just 35 total shot attempts for the game.